Dante vs Sephiroth
by Poetic Sephiroth
Summary: Dante and Sephiroth have it out: Devil to fallen angel.


Dante vs. Sephiroth

This night was for the devils...

The rain fell mercilessly upon an old, gothic cathedral in the darkness. Streams of water fell from the sky in a torrent of unending precipitation.

This night was for the devils...

Lightning frolicked in lunacy. The thunder clapped and the impression its accompanying bolt left in the sky danced and belied the sheer power it possessed.

This night wass for the devils...

A figure walked steadily and slowly in the watery veil. His sword resting horizontally on his red leather coat's shoulder, and his precious Ebony and Ivory resting comfortably in their holsters. He walked confidently and yet with an air of an unknown finality... Would he survive to see the daylight? Would he ever see the end of the storm? Would the night envelope him, and the rain be witness to the end of his days? His mind wandered as he remembered his past... The tales of his father, Sparda ... the death of Virgil...Lady...

A second figure, enveloped in shadow, trudged meaningfully in the maelstrom ... he had an air of... godliness. He hovered forward slowly, arms outstretched and left palm exposed forward... the right held his mighty blade. His appearance demanded attention. The flowing strands of drenched, long, white hair, and the rain beading on his leather coat... The mako-hazed green eyes... his gargantuan Masamune katana...

The two met in front of the cathedral. They stopped at opposite ends of the building; Dante to the East, Sephiroth to the West. The distant thunder crackled in the distance and fizzled out. Dante spoke:

"Who do we have here? Some white-haired pretty-boy?"

"You're hardly in a position to speak, impudent clod." Sephiroth retorted acidly at Dante.

"Touche', prick! I like a challenge! Say, you should put yer mamma's cuttin' knife back in the drawer, little man... you could poke an eye out!" Dante mockingly said as he took a few paces away from the cathedral, though in an acute arc, as if to try to get to Sephiroth's other side without him noticing.

"I don't have time for this! Begone, fool! You know not with whom you deal!" Sephiroth replied, visibly irritated as he headed straight forward, toward the end Dante previously occupied. He was interrupted whilst hovering at the cathedral's door.

"Why do you smug, villainous bastards always gotta be so high and mighty? Why dontcha just have fun once in a while? I do it all the time, and look at me: I'm lotsa fun, and I could kick yer ass any day of the week!"

"You wretched toad! It would please me only to know that you were made another notch to my bedpost. Do you know the multitudes of men I could slaughter? I will smite you now and end your ceaseless banter once and for all!"

"Now you're talkin'! Judging by the size of that thing, I'd say you're trying to compensate for something... Is there some trouble at home in the ol' sack?" Mocked Dante playfully as he reached a point directly in front of the cathedral's door, though a fair distance from its entrance.

"Enough talk! It begins now!" Yelled Sephiroth as he flew forward, sword at the ready...

Dante quickly prepared to block the upwardly diagonal slash. He did so, and, at the contact point, sparks flew and played against the still, merciless rain. Dante slid back several feet, and finally managed to push Sephiroth off by jumping to his left. He quickly sheathed his blade and drew his guns. He grinned and took aim. Sephiroth cast a sardonic smile, as if in unspoken agreement, and the two begin racing, though facing each other and with Sephiroth deflecting Dante's barrage of bullets, to the cathedral.

The two burst through the door and continued the race. They managed to maneuver past the row of pillars and each ran along the wall of his own side of the cathedral, guns still blazing, and sword still deflecting, though now, periodically, Sephiroth's body would be hidden by a pillar only to reappear until the next covering and unveiling. Dante, during one such space between pillars, fancied he saw the image of his brother, Virgil deflecting bullets as he did upon the tower, but this ceased to be when he passed another pillar, and his new adversary reemerged. The cathedral proved deceptively long, though the end did near quickly. Dante awayed his guns, and drew his sword again... His foe, seeing this, anticipated the next move. Each waited until the next pillar swept past, and leaped off the wall toward the other with swords poised to strike. The two stood in gridlock in the cathedral's main chamber until pushing off and leaping back, then charging forward in a flurry of blows.

Sephiroth managed to break the combat long enough to speak. He lifted his left hand and stuck the blade into the floor so as to keep it propped up.

"You have skill, worm, but you'll never overcome me in my true form... "

At that, he doubled over and then immediately surged with a dark light. A single, black wing emerged from his back, and the One-winged Angel was reborn.

"True form, huh? Looks like a bird... oh... sorry... I guess it's an angel, huh? Well fallen angel is more like it, and a fallen angel is just a fancy name for devil... guess I'll hafta show you how the devil thing is done! Step aside, birdy!"

Dante also doubled over and surged with a white light as he metamorphosed into his devil form.

"Prepare to die, blemish of the earth!"

Sephiroth's voice had changed as well as his appearance. His voice was majestic, and echoed like the booming thunder outdoors. His body exuded a holy aura tainted with an arcane darkness.

"You first, bird boy!"

Dante's voice was now also different... it was much deeper and with a raspy, deep, though clearly understandable quality. He also boomed, but with a viler presence.

The two abandoned their weapons and decided to decide this with brute force. They were to grapple do the death. They began. Their blows now untraceable by the naked eye, they seemed to disappear, only flashing momentarily in poses of combat, but their motions were merely a warmup. The frequency increased gradually, though the incline in activity seemed never to end. Their sheer power was beginning to quake the earth, and make them rise into the air. They started slowly and the earth quaked little, but soon they were clearly rising, and quickly, and the earth shook vehemently. The cathedral could no longer contain this battle. They burst through the roof and rocketed through the air, through the storm. They overcame the clouds, and they arrived at a place of beauty, over the storm. The clouds below them flashing, and the full moon shining fiercely upon them. Still they rose. The hole in the clouds where they poked through, and the cathedral beneath became specks. The atmosphere became thin, then it reached a point where it was nearly nonexistent. They would end this grapple, or suffocate... The gods would die by their ascent into the heavens, or in the hands of a devil.

The end drew near, and suddenly, simultaneously, each landed a downward blow that sent the other plummeting to earth in a streak of light... one black, one white. Down, down they fell, spiraling slowly, but falling with intense speed and force. They each landed with an impact that of a meteor. A crater formed at each of their impacts. This harsh landing did not cease the battle. They each flew at the other with a fury unrestrained. They rushed over several miles flying at a breakneck speed unheard of by mortal ears. They reached the outer courtyard of the cathedral once more. This was it... the end... Their eyes met, despite the cover of dark and rain... they didn't so much see the other's eyes as know they were there... through the rain and darkness, through the anger and fury... there was now a deep heartfelt respect for the other... This would be the decisive blow. The two streaks crossed each other in a traditional samurai showdown style, and abruptly stopped with both panting heavily, attacking fist still extended. They both dropped their transformed states without moving, and continued panting heavily. The rain had finally stopped, and the clouds were parting, the seams of the clouds bathed in moonlight.

This night was for the devils...

And tonight, the devils cried...

The End


End file.
